Tag Archives: Water’s Crest Winery

Jason’s Vineyard is in Jamesport on the North Fork of Long Island, encompassing 20 acres that he planted in 1996. But this was not Jason Damianos’s first vineyard. He had already worked at Pindar for much of his adolescence, so he really knew what it was like to work in one.

Jason, an intense and determined man, spent many of his weekends and summers during high school on Long Island working among the vines, cutting, pruning, suckering, and weeding, under the tutelage of the then winemaker Bob Henn. This is where he got his first exposure to the hard work in the fields that is the essential precursor to successful winemaking.

After studying business at the University of Hartford and obtaining two degrees, Jason found himself wearing a suit and being miserable. On visits to Pindar he would chat with Bob Henn, who advised him, “Jason, why don’t you become a winemaker? You don’t have to wear a suit. Do something you really care about.” The proverbial light bulb brightened and Jason went west and obtained a degree in oenology at California State University in Fresno, where he graduated with honors, followed by several years of training at the University of Bordeaux—a Mecca for wine students; he worked in renowned regions like the Médoc, Premiere Côte de Bordeaux, Loupiac and Cadillac.

Influenced by his experience in Bordeaux, Jason planted his vineyard with very little space between the rows, largely to reduce the number of buds to about 30 instead of 60 on each vine, which should help promote superior fruit. Today the vineyard flourishes with carefully-selected French clones of Chardonnay, Merlot, and both Cabernets. The spacing he chose directly contradicted what the Cornell viticulturists who had come to dispense advice had told the new vineyardists of Long Island, going back to the time of the Hargraves. The Cornell team advocated nine by twelve-foot spacing between the vines. Jason remonstrated with them, saying that the soil here was different—not clay as in Northern New York, but topsoil and sand (not to speak of the difference in climate)—and he refused to take their advice. His experiences in France had convinced him that Long Island needed to look to the maritime province of Bordeaux for inspiration, rather than California, since he is convinced that climatically and topographically there are more similarities between Bordeaux and the Twin Forks than perhaps anywhere else, particularly Northern New York, so Jason planted accordingly; his vines are spaced one meter by two meters apart.

In the spirit of the Golden Fleece, Jason brought a flock of sheep and alpacas to look after the vineyard in the most sustainable way he knew. They keep the weeds down and mow, with no need for mechanical intervention and, as a bonus, they fertilize the vines. The alpaca helps ward off pests.

Jason produces tightly-structured, full-bodied, and age-worthy wines that can, after reposing in a cellar over a span of time, eventually ripen into deeply-rewarding and long-lasting wines. This poses a dilemma for him since he feels the marketplace wants wines that are more immediately accessible. This dilemma is faced by a number of Long Island wineries. A compromise is not always easily obtained except by offering a wide selection of wines, some of which provide immediate and pleasurable consumption while others are for the more patient drinker who is willing to let the wine evolve in bottle for several years before pulling a cork.

The tasting room as the good ship Argo, which took Jason & his Argonauts to their fate.

The tasting room is unique, given its abstracted representation of the ship Argo, which was sailed by Jason and his Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. It adds a certain rather wacky charm to what would otherwise be just another tasting room. Greek mythology, history, and literature all enjoy a large place in the Damianos panoply of Long Island wineries: Pindar, after all, is named after the great ancient Greek poet, and two of Jason’s wines are named Golden Fleece and Hercules.

Jason & one of his sheep

Tragically, Jason, 49, died after a traffic accident on December 30, 2016. His family, which is very close-knit, is determined to keep his vineyard and winery in business for the foreseeable future. After all, they also run Pindar, Duckwalk, and Duckwalk North, so they know what they are doing. Still, his loss is a significant one for the wine community. He was also director of wine making at Pindar.

In January 2018 it was announced that Jim Waters, of Waters Crest Winery, has closed his tasting room and winemaking facility to become winemaker at Jason’s. Jim has long had a relationship with the Damianos family, and they have agreed that Jim can continue to make his own wine at the facilities as well for his Waters Crest wine-club members. His wine will be made in small batches for a club that he wishes to limit to no more than 500 members; there are already 400.

As of July 2016, despite a much-needed reassessment, as so many of the sites have been significantly updated and improved, I have had no time to do a full re-evaluation. My book, The Wines of Long Island, 3rd edition, has just been turned in to my publisher, SUNY Press. After a period of decompression, I shall revisit all the Websites and update this post.

In an article published in Wines & Vines, “What Visitors Want from Wine Sites” (June 2011), Kent Benson explained what information he thought serious visitors to wine sites (specifically winery and vineyard ones) should provide. I thought that his ideas were worth serious consideration and decided to try and apply those criteria to the websites of the region that I am most familiar with: Long Island. Benson’s original article is accessible at Wines & Vines 6/11.

The Criteria

In order to assess the quality of the Long Island winery/vineyard websites, I have chosen to evaluate them on the basis of both the historical and technical information that they provide. Below is my adaptation (mostly a reorganization) of Kent Bensons’ wish list for wine websites:

In addition, I would like to see Winery websites that are easy to navigate and do not require that a visitor need dig for information or other data. All features should be easily accessible, which means that navigation options should not be embedded more than a level or two down from the main menu or home page.Blogs are very nice to have and can be extremely informative: Bedell Cellars, Channing Daughters, and Shinn Estate have particularly useful ones. However, they are not scored for this assessment, as most sites have no blogs.

Events and event calendars are an essential part of nearly any retail winery, but these are not scored individually in the assessments that follow, as they are mostly about entertainment and social matters, and information on winegrowing and winemaking is our real concern.

Consequently, I have also added a new criterion, for ‘general’ features. These are scored by the number of features listed above that appear on the Website, thus 10 ‘yes’ answers (features present) is complete. If a feature is not applicable (n/a) the score is not reduced. Furthermore, if a newsletter is available, I score the newsletter for quality of its information—if no newsletter is offered, it is not scored.

About the Assessments

NOTE: The assessments on the following pages are based on my version of Benson’s wish list. They are my own, and therefore subjective. Poor scores may sometimes reflect a deliberate desire on the part of the winery not to provide the kind of information that is being looked for here, possibly due to the time and cost of including it on the Web. In no case do these scores reflect on the wines offered on these sites.

The purpose of this assessment is both informational for visitors and, hopefully, a prod to the web designers and the site owners to add or improve features, if possible. Naturally, many of the wineries are very small and may not have the wherewithal to spend money on a better website than they already have. Some don’t appear to have the means to keep their sites up-to-date, or at least certain features such as blogs, which are time-consuming to maintain. It would be helpful if all sites provided a ‘last time updated’ on their home pages.

It shall be updated from time-to-time as enough changes to the websites so warrant. Assigning scores to the websites

Listed alphabetically, the assessments of the websites carry no imputations regarding a winery’s products. Major features are graded on a scale of 1 to 5:

The highest score possible for a website is 5.0 points out of 5. Nominally, the lowest score should be 1.0 point out of 5, but there is one site that has a blog about money and dogs and nothing about wine—an aberration, to be sure, but listed nevertheless for the sake of completeness.

The Sixty-two Websites (as of 11 June 2013)

NOTE: In May 2012 there were fifty-five Websites that were evaluated. As of July 2016 there are over seventy sites to be assessed.

Comment: Two linked websites, one for Anthony Nappa Wines, another for the tasting room at The Winemaker Studio; information about the vineyards that source the grapes would be very welcome (and so interesting to the geeks among us).

Comment: Greeted by a picture of a child with a horse, one knows immediately that this is a family-oriented; the vineyard and its wines itself needs more attention. The BHFV Horse Rescue operation, by the way, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation, devoted to the rescue of horses.

Bedell Cellars: (5.0 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Purchase online: (5/5) Very good descriptions, many choices, including sets

Wine Club: Yes

Contact: e-mail, phone & fax

Directions: Yes, with map

News/reviews link: Yes, many links to reviews in NYT

Newsletter / Mailing List: (5/5) Yes, by far the most informative and interesting newsletter of all, with keen and thoughtful observations about wine, viniculture, terroir, and so on. Issued from time to time.

Comment: An elegant site, easy to navigate, many useful options, thoughtful design, exceptionally informative and complete. A plausible standard for winery websites with respect to the content that they could provide. Elegant design helps too, of course. The newsletter is a model as well—every issue is worth reading (though they do come out irregularly).

Bouké Wines: (4.2 4.6 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Additional features: Links to responsible drinking sites (AIM & Century); Jazz recommended listening; boutique for wine accessories; the blog is really just a series of links; blogroll is a set of links to blogs by others

Up-to-date: Yes

Bouké Wines

Comment: Attractive and easy to use, it reflects well on the products offered; much improved design with excellent navigation; it could mention the vineyards sourcing the grapes; the list of NYC retailers selling the wines is confined to Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Oenology (3.7 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Vineyard: No

Winery: No; PWG makes the wine

Winemaker: Yes, Alie Shaper

Tasting Room: Yes, offers BOE wines and a selection of other LI and Finger Lakes wines

Comment: Site functions like a work in progress; the wine links don’t work properly if you select, for example, White Wines, as it takes you to an empty page. You must select a particular white wine, but it means that making comparisons a bit more difficult.

Brooklyn Winery (4.2 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Comment: Web focus is on winery’s prestige and social events as well as its wine; no staff bios, not even of the owners, unless you find the press releases—so the info is available, albeit in a desultory way.

Channing Daughters: (4.8 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Vineyard: Yes

Winery: Yes

Winemaker: Yes, Christopher Tracy

Tasting Room: Yes

History / background: (5/5) Excellent, especially with regard to its philosophy

Up-to-date: Yes, ‘Where to buy’ option shows the wines are offered in many states and are available in some of the best restaurants in the country, including Daniel in NYC, The French Laundry in Napa, as well as eateries in Montreal and Quebec City.

Tours: Yes, according to LI Wine Country, but it doesn’t appear to be the case according to the winery Website

Photo gallery: No, but a slide show of ten images includes one of goldfish (?). A picture of a duck would make more sense for Duckwalk, one would think.

Website design /usability: (4/5) Very easy to use; home page is dominated by pictures of its scheduled entertainers

General feature set: 5 of 10 (2.5/5)

Additional features: About Duck Walk’s supported causes; there used to be an option to choose any of four languages other than English: French German, Italian, and Spanish, but that appears to have been removed since the site was reviewed last year (2012)

Comment: What? No directions on how to get there? No newsletter? A rather basic site, it could also use more information about viniculture, especially given the claim to sustainable practices, and more about the wines, as well.

Additional features: Featured restaurants that offer Lieb Cellars wine, particularly a link to Craft Restaurant, given that Lieb makes a sparkling wine for Craft’s private label as well as a link for Lieb’s Summer Rosé for Park Ave. Restaurant’s private label. (Both restaurants are in NYC.)

Comment: An attractive and largely well-designed site that is mostly easy to get around; though there are two separate labels—Lieb Cellars and Bridge Lane, the distinction between them is not made clear. The inability for users of opening the wine tasting notes and spec sheets is frustrating; apart from the error message, clicking on the Continue button simply takes one back to the wines page—in other words, a circular routing.

Macari Vineyards: (4.0 4.4 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Vineyard: Yes

Winery: Yes

Winemaker: Yes, Kelly Urbanik, also Helmut Gangl, consultant

Tasting Room: Yes

History / background: (4/5) Sufficient history & background

About / Biographies: (5/5) Excellent, especially on the backgrounds of the winemakers

Comment: Other than the opening page, an attractive site; however, to read about the wines involves using a display of pictures of wine bottles—to select click on the image to read about the wine; the media feature is, quirkily, not quotations or links from the press or reviewers, but rather, videos that are no longer accessible.

Photo gallery: Yes, with many family pictures in all categories; e.g., Vineyard

Website design: (4/5) Attractive and easy to navigate, but a few too many mouse clicks needed here and there; some features are not yet active, such as a list of retailers and restaurants that offer the wines

General feature set: 6 of 10 (3/5)

Additional features: You can view the front & back labels of the wines, the only site that provides this

Up-to-date: The blog and some other sections seem to be spottily up to date.

Purchase online: (4/5) With the new makeover it is not presently functional (but it had been very good, easy to use, brief descriptions of wines). Let’s hope that it will be as good as the former version (212)

Wine Club: Yes

Contact: Phone, e-mail, snail mail

Directions: Yes, via MapQuest

Newsletter / Mailing List: No

News/reviews link: No

Wine Blog: No

Events / calendar: No

Tours: No

Photo gallery: Yes; also a video promo

Website design: (3/5) OK, easy to use and navigate, but many useful features and options have been eliminated [the site was created using Vistaprint, a do-it-yourself Website application; previously it had been done by Cro2, a professional site designer

General feature set: 5 of 10 (2/5)

Additional features: None

Up-to-date: Apparently, given that it’s a new design, but there is no datable information, though this should be corrected once the online-purchase feature is enabled.

Comment: A brand-new look and feel, with the home page emphasizing “Live Music Every Weekend”; the site that feels incomplete and lacks the most basic information on the winery, vineyard, or staff. A shame, but the site will be regularly revisited to see what it will become once completed.

Paumanok Vineyards: (4.6 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Wine Blog: Yes, many interesting posts and links to articles, and it’s up to date.

Events / calendar: Yes

Tours: Yes

Photo gallery: No

Website design: (5/5) An attractive and well-organized site, easy to use (by Cro2)

General feature set: 9 of 10 (4.5/5)

Additional features: Quotes Walt Whitman on Paumanok’s name; lists all the restaurants and wine stores at which their wines can be found, as well as a full selection of lodgings in the East End, plus a helpful list of related wine Web sites

Winemaker’s notes / wine description: (5/5) Adequate on the Tasting Notes option, but much more complete if one goes to the Trade Support option (2001 through 2008)

Technical wine data: Yes, but one has to use the Trade Support option to get to them.

Purchase online: (4/5) No wine descriptions accompany purchase options, so one has to go the Tasting Notes option to read them

Wine Club: Yes

Contact: Yes

Directions: Text & map

News/reviews link: Yes, excerpts only

Newsletter / Mailing List: Yes, but since signing up 13 months ago, I’ve not received a single newsletter

Wine Blog: No

Events / calendar: Yes

Tours: No

Photo gallery: No

Website design: (5/5) Very attractive, straightforward to use, though one has to dig through some options; Tasting Notes aren’t also viewable in Purchase section; full wine notes are accessible through Trade Support option

General feature set:6 of 10 (3/5)

Additional features: In Trade Support there are images of both the front and back labels of the wines.

Up-to-date: Yes, for events and tasting notes (up to the 2011 vintage); Trade Support info only goes up to the 2008 vintage, as was the case when the Web site was reviewed in May 2012. There is no mention of the fact that Russell Hearn, the winemaker, recently left the winery.

Comment: A nice, clean design featuring an elevation drawing of the façade of the Raphael winery, it is notable in part for what it doesn’t have as well as what it does: No quotations or links from the news media or reviewers. It also lacks any biographical information on staff, and tells a visitor little about the vineyard. One the other hand, it offers excellent wine notes.

Vineyard / Viniculture information: (3/5) Little vineyard info or maps; though an adequate, brief note on viniculture (strange, given that the Owner, Rich Pisacano is a “vineyardist” and his father, Gabby, is the vineyard manager.)

Comment: A website that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but provides a good deal of serious information in a sometimes light-hearted way. It is, in its way, rather endearing. However, it’s a vineyard, so why is there not more information about the vineyard proper?

Sannino-Bella Vita Vineyard (2.5 3.4 out of 5 points)

Vineyard: Yes

Winery: Yes

Winemaker: Anthony Sannino; also with his vine-to-wine students

Tasting Room: Yes, at Ackerly Pond’s barn

History / background: (3/5) Adequate

About / Biographies: (5/5) Full bios

Vineyard / Viniculture information: (2/5) Little information, as a member of the LISW, it practices sustainable viniculture, but a nice video of the vineyard with pleasant musical accompaniment

Comment: Strongly family-oriented and emphatically Italian. Given that the Scarolas have a vineyard and no winery, it is frustrating to find that the site scrimps on vinicultural information yet has plenty to say about its wines (made Roman Roth).

Sherwood House Vineyards (3.6 points out of 5)

Vineyard: Yes

Winery: No

Winemaker: No; Gilles Martin is the contract winemaker

Tasting Room: Yes

History / background: (5/5)

About / Biographies: (5/5), full biographies of the owners and Gilles Martin

Comment: Newly redesigned website, much improved and easier to navigate than the old one; much useful information but short on tasting notes, which used to be much more complete and included technical notes as well. That’s a loss.

Southold Farm + Cellar:

Vineyard: Yes

Winery: uses Raphael Winery facilities

Winemaker: not yet

Tasting Room: not yet

History / background: (2/5) At present a brief story, with much hope for the future

Comment: I find the design too forward and distracting. Still, it has its good points: detailed information about important things such as its history, the biographies, notes; bad point: almost nothing about the vineyard or viniculture.

Suhru Wines (4.6 out of 5)

Vineyard: No

Winery: No; uses PWG, of which owner Russell Hearn is a partner

Winemaker: Yes, Russell Hearn

Tasting Room: Winemakers Studio

History / background: (5/5) Excellent

About / Biographies: (5/5) Bios of the owners and the sales manager

Vineyard / Viniculture information: (n/a)

Winemaker’s notes / wine description: (5/5)

Technical wine data: Yes, if one clicks on the Wine for the Trade option

Purchase online: (4/5) with full descriptions, but one must go to the Trade option to see the notes & tech information before purchasing

Wine Club: Yes

Contact: Phone, e-mail via Gmail, snail mail

Directions: n/a

News/reviews link: Yes, though not up to date

Newsletter / Mailing List: Yes, sent monthly

Wine Blog: No

Events / calendar: n/a

Tours: n/a

Photo gallery: No

Website design: (4/5) Well-designed and attractive, if rather busy, but mostly easy to navigate

Comment: There are links for reviews if one does a search for it. (It had been a minimalist approach to providing access—the focus was strongly centered on purchases and events. Little information, even about the wine.) NOTE: online reviews tend to trash the place as a party venue out of control; other reviews extoll it as a party venue

Waters Crest (2.0 points out of 5)

Vineyard: No

Winery: Yes

Winemaker: Yes, Jim Waters

Tasting Room: Yes

History / background: (2/5) No history, a little background in About section

Purchase online: (1/5) Apparently not, but perhaps through wine club; not clear; one has to fill out a PDF application and send it in

Wine Club: Yes

Contact: Phone, e-mail, snail mail

Directions: Only the street address

News/reviews link: Yes, but very limited

Newsletter / Mailing List: follow on Facebook

Wine Blog: No

Events / calendar: Yes

Tours: No

Photo gallery: No

Website design: (4/5) Attractive, mostly straightforward to use.

General feature set: 6 of 10 (3/5)

Additional features: Link to LI Wine Country Places to eat & stay.

Up-to-date: Yes, clearly indicated on each page.

Waters Crest Winery

Comment: In some ways its functions can be frustrating, but this is the only website in this survey that gives a page’s most recent update

Winemakers Studio

Comment: see Anthony Nappa Wines, for they share a Website.

Wölffer Estate (4.7 4.9 out of 5)

As of January 2016 it has been substantially updated, but not yet reassessed.

Vineyard: Yes

Winery: Yes

Winemaker: Yes, Roman Roth

Tasting Room: Yes

History / background: (5/5)

About / Biographies: (5/5) Good biographies of all the staff

Vineyard / Viniculture information: (5/5) Mostly general observations, with focus on terroir; for viniculture info one needs to dig into the News feature, but as of 2013 there is now a link to the LISW Web site, which details the sustainable practices followed by Wölffer.

Winemaker’s notes / wine description: (5/5) Very complete and full

Technical wine data: Yes, very complete, one could not ask for more

Purchase online: (5/5) Full notes and descriptions immediately accessible to buyer, but not all wines are provided with notes &/or descriptions—an odd inconsistency; they also offer verjus and vinegar

Wine Club: Yes

Contact: Phone, fax, e-mail, snail mail

Directions: Yes, text with a painted map (not Google or MapQuest)

News/reviews link: Yes, though a 2013 review by Howard G. Goldberg has no link.

Newsletter / Mailing List: Yes

Wine Blog: No

Events / calendar: Yes

Tours: None appear to be offered

Photo gallery: Yes, on Flcker

Website design: (5/5) Newly updated, clean and attractive, mostly straightforward navigation, but why should one have to dig for the vinicultural information?

Comment: One needs to dig a bit for some features. Very complete information in many areas, but strangely lacking in details about the vineyard—no map, mention of acreage, etc.; read Wine & Vineyard and you then have a link to another page, The Vineyard & Winemaking, where one can find out about viniculture. Some inconsistencies with regard to wine notes (very full for some wines, no information at all for others).